Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2006 16:43:53 +0000 (GMT)
From: Nathan Me <nathan7new@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: James chapter 20

'James' by Nathan

New email address nathan7new@yahoo.co.uk

Please note that email addresses listed previously are no longer active and
I no longer use the groups mentioned there. My stories are now archived at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nathansstories/.

This story contains material of a sexual nature and describes sexual acts
between adults and children. If you find this kind of material offensive,
if you are under the legal age to read such material or if it is illegal in
your country, please do not read any further.

My stories may contain some factual or autobiographical elements, but they
are works of fiction and any apparent similarities of my characters to real
people are not intended.

This story is protected by copyright. It may not be downloaded, copied,
printed or otherwise reproduced in any way other than for your private
enjoyment and may not be changed in any way without express written consent
of the author, me!

I hope you enjoy this story.


James: Chapter 20

He sat drinking a coffee. He hadn't gone in to work again and his boss had
called to find out what was going on. Neil wasn't only his boss, but in the
little while they had known each other, they had begun a friendship. Tom
wasn't sure how strong it was yet, but he needed someone to talk to and as
people weren't exactly queuing up to be friends, Neil would do, if he were
up for it. Perhaps he had no real friends because he was the bastard Sara
described. He was increasingly afraid that he might be. He was beating
himself up for every mistake, every failed relationship and argument he had
ever had. Tom hadn't known feelings so depressing since his grandfather had
died. He knew, from that experience, that the only way out of a downward
spiral of emotions like this was to find something to hold on to, someone
with an objective perspective. Here and now, the only person he could think
of was a man he had only known for a few months.  He knew Neil was married,
to Anne, whom Tom had met just once at an office party. He knew that Neil
and Anne went to some church in Notting Hill or Kensington somewhere,
because Neil had invited him a couple of times to go with them. Neil wasn't
a bible basher or anything, but there was something strong about
him. Whether that was his faith or whether he was just a naturally strong
person, Tom didn't know, but he needed someone strong right now. So, when
Neil had called to find out why his star performer had not come in to work
for two days on the trot, Tom took the opportunity to ask if they could
have a private word out of the office. Neil readily agreed and suggested
lunch, even though most people didn't leave the office at lunch, usually
just eating a salad roll at their desks. Tom suggested this little street
café in Covent Garden. Perhaps, he thought, he might see a certain young
boy, or maybe that would be that absolute worst thing that could
happen. Ho, shit! Some of the guys from the office, including Neil, went
out for a few drinks after work on Friday nights. Neil was a regular bloke:
he was married, played football when he wasn't watching it and seemed to
genuinely care about those who worked for him. Neil always was open and
forthright and seemed fairly unshockable. That was what Tom needed now:
unshockable.

"Yo!" A tall man in the ubiquitous city suit stepped up the curb and took
the seat beside him, pulling the knees of his trousers as he sat and
revealing Bart Simpson socks. Tom smiled and Neil saw what he was looking
at. "A Christmas present," he explained, "so, 'have to wear them now and
again."

"Good excuse." Tom said with a wry smile.

"You don't look as if you're dying," Neil said. "And unless I missed it on
the news this morning, I didn't hear that the end of the world had come, so
what's keeping you away?" A waitress came and took their lunch order,
giving Tom a few more moments to gather himself before he had to explain.

"I had an HIV test yesterday." After all the thinking about what to say, he
just blurted it out. Neil took a slow sip of his coffee and seemed not to
have heard. After a few moments that seemed like the proverbial eternity to
Tom, Neil let out a big sigh.

"Well, my opening comments now seem more than a little
inappropriate. Sorry. Did you get the results?" His obvious concern showed
in his face and Tom belatedly thought how such a revelation might affect
his job. After all, this was his boss. Neil seemed to read Tom's hesitation
and began to nod. "You scared how what you tell me will effect your job?"

"Well, yes actually. I need to talk this through with someone, someone with
a level head that I respect, but you are my boss."

"Tom, unless what you tell me has a direct impact on your ability to do
your job, as far as I see it, it's no one else's business. If you trust me
enough to reveal that much, I can only say I am honoured you think so much
of me and I'll try to live up to your high expectations of me." A smile
cracked through his otherwise serious demeanour and Tom matched it. They
both started to laugh. Neil was notorious for having 'high expectations' of
everyone he worked with and the phrase was bandied around the office
frequently, both as a joke and a serious spur excel.

"Bastard."

"Now, Tom, is that any way to speak to your boss?" Neil quipped.

"Thanks. This could have been even harder if you had taken me seriously."

"Oh, I take everything seriously." They paused while the waitress served
their lunches. They both took small bites of their respective toasted
sandwiches before Tom continued.

"Yeah, right. O.k. I had the test because an old girlfriend said she had
the Virus and she thought I had given it to here, but it turns out I am
negative. I have to go back in a few months for a second test, but they are
99% certain I am in the clear."

"I'm sorry to hear about your friend, but at least it's good news for you."

"Yeah, but I still feel pretty crap."

"That's understandable. It must have been awful waiting for the results."

"What made it worse was that she said I had mistreated her while we were
going out to the point that she even thought some of our sex was tantamount
to rape." He turned to look Neil straight in the face to see how he had
taken that. Neil sat wearing a serious look, but not revulsion. "I honestly
don't see it like that at all, but I obviously hurt her and that started me
thinking. Perhaps I use people, in relationships, at work, whatever, to get
what I want without any thought for them or how they feel. Do you see that
in me?" he looked at Neil and waited for an answer.

"Well, that's hard to answer, Tom. I haven't known you for long. But I
think you are single minded and driven to achieve whatever you set your
mind to and look out whoever gets in your way." He took another bite of the
hot sandwich and chewed it slowly. "Do you remember how you handled that
mess Julia caused? You were pretty hard on her, and yes I know she cocked
the deal up, but even so, you were pretty hard. Your team work hard because
they know you will not tolerate slackness or mistakes, even though you
pretty much give them free reign and don't interfere unless they ask for
help. That's Ok to a point, but I sometimes get questions from them because
they find it easier to come ask me things than going to you. You can be
hard, Tom. That's both a quality and a failing and it's up to you to find a
way to temper it with a little humanity and compassion as and when
necessary." He smiled again, "So that's my pop psychology quotient for the
day. What I really want to know is how you are now?"

"I'm ok, Neil, but I need to get my life re-prioritised. Other stuff has
been happening recently that shook me up a little too, so this was just the
final straw." He paused, because he knew part of what Neil's answer to his
next question would be... religion. "Neil, I need to find a way to become a
better person. I need to be able to think about others and not just myself,
or I'll never have a successful relationship."

"Tom, you know I'm a Christian, and I'm not going to beat you over the head
with that because you know you have a standing invitation to join us any
Sunday you want, but a big part of what we believe is to do with
relationships, ours both with God and each other. Ever heard the phrase,
'do unto others'?"

"Yeah."

"Well it ends, 'as you would have them do unto you'. In other words, treat
others as you want to be treated yourself. It makes you a popular guy,
because we all want to be encouraged and have people take an interest in
us. It is something you have to work at, practice, because it seldom comes
naturally to put others first."

"So how can I do that? Where can I practice? What moron is going to let me
practice on them?" They both laughed.

"Well, leave that with me, I have an idea, but I'll need to check it
through before I say anything. So when do you think you'll be up to coming
back? Julian has been seen twice already trying out your seat..."

Then man who had been there during his physical was now sitting next to
him. Across the table were two police officers: one man and one
woman. Although they were trying to make it clear that James was not
himself in any trouble and that even though he had run away, the things
that had happened were not his fault and they only wanted an accurate
account of them, James still felt guilty. Something deep inside was sure
that this was all his fault. Irrational thoughts and fears tied his stomach
in knots and after just ten minutes he actually vomited all over the
table. The adults all suddenly shot back, away from the spreading pool of
sick. He burst into tears and felt absolutely wretched. The social worker
cleaned him up and they relocated to another interview room to escape the
smell. After a few minutes during which one of the officers had consulted
again with the doctor, they asked James if he felt well enough to
continue. He claimed he was and for another thirty minutes he described
what had happened since he ran away from the home. His detail was sketchy
in places, as he just wanted to get this over with and although he
mentioned spending the night with a man, he claimed he couldn't describe
him, didn't know his name or where he lived. Why was he protecting Tom? He
was very tired and really wanted to sleep. He noticed the interview room
walls were made of large boards that were punctured all over with tiny
holes, like little mice had worked in rows making tiny peepholes. Stupid
thought; mouse holes are much bigger.

"Well, James?"

"Sorry?"

"I asked how long you had been in the cellar room?"

"I don't know. I don't even remember going down there."

"OK, James. That will do for now, but we may want to come and talk to you
again in a few days. Would that be ok?"

He nodded. He didn't really see what option he had. Could he really say no?
Weren't these just more adults making him do what they wanted? Hadn't he
already found that all adults just wanted the same thing? None of them
could be trusted anyway. He closed his eyes and wished it were all just a
bad dream and he would wake in his own room in his own bed with his mum
leaning over him saying it was time to go to his own school. When he opened
them again, the adults were standing up and waiting for him to do likewise.

Back in the larger room where the others had been, James waited for all the
children to finish their interviews. He curled up in a large soft armchair
and somehow managed to fall asleep. Someone woke him up by snuggling down
beside him and when he opened his eyes he found that Sam had squeezed in to
the chair with him and was cuddling him. A weak smile flitted across the
young teen's face.

"I'm sorry." Sam said meekly.

"What for?"

"What we did to you."

"I guess it wasn't really your fault."

"I should have said something years ago, but it was my dad, you know."

James wasn't sure he did know.

"It were me who called the police when they took you down to the cellar."

"Why? Andy and Philip must have been down there a while. Why didn't you
call before?"

Tears welled in Sam's eyes as he struggled to get the words out. "I wanted
to, but I was so scared of Trev and dad, but when I saw you last night..."
His voice trailed off into sobs that lasted several minutes. "But when I
saw you last night, I knew it had to end even if it meant squealing on me
own dad. When I looked into your eyes last night, I saw all the pain I had
been through and everything they were going to do to you. I just had to
stop it."

"I'm glad you did. But what will happen to us know?"

"Dunno."

One by one, the other boys were shown back into the room. They had all been
interviewed alone, with the exception of Danny, who refused to speak
without Chris being there. The first stage of their police interviews over,
Mrs Daniels led the boys to a social services minibus and got them all
seated and belted before she took the front seat beside the driver. No one
spoke. The stress and distress of the previous few hours had tied them all
out. Uncertainty, fear, even a sense of loss for the family boys: strong
emotions like these take their toll. They rolled slowly towards the big
barred gate, allowing it to roll back out of their path, and slowly they
emerged from the compound into the crisp light and birdsong of a new day.

More to come...